A Olympic volunteer stands on the illuminated steps of the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Olympic Park and talks to a spectator at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (J. David Ake, The Associated Press)

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Many of the volunteers at the Olympics have little or no ability to speak English, but they are mostly very friendly and we find ways to have fun with difficulty communicating.

Monday I was in line for lunch at the alpine media center, and I was asking the woman behind the buffet what the various selections were. One looked like beef, but you can’t be too careful, so I asked what it was.

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Julia Mancuso ripped the combined downhill course Monday morning with a sizzling run to win the downhill leg of the super combined by 0.47 of a second, putting her in excellent position to medal.

She must have a good slalom run (at 4 a.m. Denver time), and she has not raced slalom this year on the World Cup, but she certainly has a medal in her grasp. She took silver in super combined at the Vancouver Olympics.

“I just felt full of energy when I kicked out of the start,” Mancuso said. “The snow felt a little bit softer, so it was easier to really drive into my ski. Having a day off (Sunday), I felt really energized. First race of the Olympics, I was excited and really just focused on being aerodynamic and going for it. I really feel I have a chance at a medal, especially having a great downhill run. I need to stay grounded and focus on that slalom.”

A trio of high-flying teens from Colorado represent the country’s best hope for an Olympic medal-harvest in the halfpipe.
Boulder’s Lyman Currier, 19, Aspen’s Torin Yater-Wallace, 18, and Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck, 17, are Colorado’s teenage triple threat for Olympic glory. The three amigos have been giddily prodding each other to boost bigger since grade school, competing in first amateur, then junior, and, most recently, professional halfpipe contests.

The game turned serious in 2011 when Yater-Wallace exploded, throwing progressive double-flipping tricks in the pipe and becoming the youngest athlete at age 15 to medal at the Winter X Games.

“That really pushed Lyman and I to really get to where he was. Both Lyman and I, at that time, were setting our hopes higher when we saw our good friend doing well,” said Blunck, whose baby-face masks an aggressive, predatory athleticism in the pipe.

Those hopes are anchored in the most progressive tricks ever seen in the halfpipe. All three spin the gymnastic double-cork 1260; two backflips while rotating three-and-a-half times above a 22-foot wall of ice. Their creative fire fuels a technical, style-soaked trickery that elevated them to not just the country’s first-ever Olympic ski halfpipe team, but as medal contenders for the sport’s Olympic debut.

A stray dog walks past the Olympic Rings in Olympic Park, three days before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. A pest control company which has been killing stray dogs in Sochi for years told The Associated Press on Monday that it has a contract to exterminate more of the animals throughout the Olympics. (Robert F. Bukaty, The Associated Press)

It’s hard times for hounds in Krasnaya Polyana.

A couple days ago, friendly strays lounged at bus stops, nibbling handouts from workers and accepting belly scratches from visitors and volunteers. Today, there are noticeably fewer dogs on the streets. Maybe they are roaming. Or maybe they are part of an Olympic purge to cleanse the coastal and mountain Olympic villages and venues of strays.

Alexei Sorokin told the Associated Press earlier this week that his company, Basya Services, had been asked by Olympic organizers to step up its collection and extermination of strays throughout the Olympics.
Sorokin told the AP that his firm was “catching and disposing” of dogs. He didn’t say how the dogs were killed. Sochi officials hired the company to cull stray dogs a year ago, igniting protests from dog lovers who urged the development of shelters.

The sun sets along the Black Sea as “Sochi 2014″ sits written in sand by a beach goer on the eve of the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (David Goldman, The Associated Press)

SOCHI, Russia — Sochi sits on the coast of the Black Sea, so I went to the beach Tuesday afternoon to chat with a few locals and tourists and watch the sun set. I called it reporting. I really just wanted to see the sun set into the Black Sea and relax before things get crazy around here.

I watched lovers snuggle. I watched two 17-year-old boys skimming rocks off the surf after riding to the beach on their bikes on a day with temperatures in the low 50s. I enjoyed the incongruous sight of palm trees only 26 miles from mountains where ski races will be held this weekend.

Jason Blevins covers tourism, mountain business, skiing and outdoor adventure sports for both the business and sports sections at The Denver Post, which he joined in 1997. He skis, pedals, paddles and occasionally boogies in the hills.

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About All Things Olympics

The All Things Olympics blog from The Denver Post covers the athletes, events and stories of the Olympic Games and Olympic sports, including the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia. Its writers — John Meyer, Jason Blevins and Mark Kiszla — will feature profiles, articles, analysis and personal reflection.